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The Match Girl's Lost Paradise
The Match Girl's Lost Paradise is the fifteenth installment of the Dark Parables series. The game takes place in Funen, Denmark. As the Fairytale Detective, we are sent to investigate a series of disappearances involving blue flames and magical matches. This game is based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Little Match Girl with elements of The Emperor's New Clothes by the same author and the German folklore of Frau Holle. To read reviews or play the game for yourself, click here: Standard ~ Collector's Edition ~ Steam Briefing Your next assignment is on Funen, one of the largest islands in Denmark. It is a beautiful place with something unusual stirring just below the surface. There have been a series of unexplained fires. The latest one involved a rich landowner in Stars Hallow who was caught in his home. Like all the other incidents, there was nobody and no traces of a fire afterward. It's as if the victims were swallowed by the flames. Locals have even given the phenomenon a name - the Flame of Illusion. A girl selling matches was spotted near each crime scene. She seems to be the only solid clue. Good luck, Detective. Plot WARNING:'' This section contains massive spoilers! (So read at your own risk!)'' The Detective is once again summoned to investigate a strange phenomenon plaguing the world, this time the disappearance of the landowner of Stars Hollow in Funen, Denmark. The man was absorbed by blue flames, and no true traces of fire were found other than his disappearance. Citizens call this the 'Flame of Illusion'. Just as the Detective is about to enter the town, she is assaulted with fireballs thrown from a mysterious girl. The girl confronts the Detective in the now-burning town square, saying "Have you come to make a wish? Your desires are trivial and undeserving of my matches!" She leaps over the rooftops, leaving more fire in her wake. Could she be the girl your case file mentions? Regardless, the Detective finds a hose nozzle and manages to stop all the fires. She enters the mansion, scarred on the outside, to find an odd mirror. After cleaning it, she sees a vision of the landowner! He exclaims with joy that the matches he bought were not fake, and really do grant wishes! He walks off, leaving the mirror to burst. Suddenly, two nutcracker dolls at the entrance of the mansion wake up; after dropping a chandelier on them, the same girl from before chuckles evilly and runs past the open windows. Why is she doing this? Notes inside the mansion mention a 'Forest Witch' who is blamed for the recent crimes... is this girl the witch? If not, how are they connected? With these things in mind, she opens the gate to the countryside. The girl is staring at the sky here. She mentions that all the falling stars are souls, and then walks off, her footprints leaving scorched marks in the ground. The Detective tries to follow, but the girl has decimated a gatehouse, blocking the path. A small magic bean sapling is found near a journal with the emblem of the Sky Kingdom. Perhaps the sapling can be used to destroy the debris. Nearby stalls contain potion recipes; one such recipe is for a growth potion. The Detective returns to the old match shop, abandoned and overgrown, to find a tattered picture of the girl outside, seemingly happy. Shoved in the corner, forgotten, is an old, life-size doll that greatly resembles the girl... but in clothing stained by poverty. She states that she needs someone to buy her matches, or else her father will be upset with her. When given a coin, she says "The place she made was meant to help people, not imprison them..." she slumps against the wall, out of energy. With ingredients nearby, the Detective makes the potion and proceeds to the Old Town. A moss-coated statue stands here, of a woman with white hair and an elaborate dress. An aura of magic is in the air, surrounded by scorched buildings. Everything is crumbling. A plaque describes the Forest Witch (displayed in the statue) as a benevolent woman that helped the townspeople. What is her connection to the Match Girl? There's no time to wonder, though, since a tarp covering a mirror beckons the Detective's attention. Inside is Prince Julian, a lost prince of the Sky Kingdom from the Detective's sixth investigation. He tells the Detective to run, and that he has fallen victim to the matches as well! His carriage sits in the square and holds a key to unlock the diary. In it, the Detective learns that Julian wanted to bring back his dead father, but was trapped by the Match Girl. The Detective finds an axe and another plaque commemorating the Forest Witch's deeds, and all is fine until the Forest Witch's statue comes to life! It has arms made of vines, but the Detective ties it up and it falls into the lake, along with a statue of the greedy king of Egeskov. The Detective enters the old castle ruins. In the castle, the Match Girl appears in yet another mirror: "It seems your desires are stronger than I thought," she says tauntingly. "Let's play a game: if you can find the entrance to my garden, I'll tell you everything you want to know." The mirror shatters. After investigating the castle ruins, the Detective goes through a hedge maze and finds parts of a magical sundial. She uses the pieces to open a larger sundial in the middle of a pond. The water turns purple, resembling the water of the Purple Tide, and the Detective solves a puzzle to open the entrance. But upon stepping closer to the sundial, she is pulled under the purple tide by the plant monster from before. The Detective is seen falling under the deep purple waves... Coming to her senses, the Detective awoke to find herself tied up. Encountering with a mirror that looks exactly like the False Mirror, he taunts the Detective before she freed herself. Along the way of exploring the Garden, which looks like a magical version of the kingdom from reality, she met with the illusions of King Eurig and Prince James. Eventually, she found Julian and freed him from his cage. Together, they have to search for the wishing well to get the Detective back to reality. She tried to get the Landowner to realize the illusion, but he attacks her, believing that she was here to steal his wealth. He falls from the second floor and was ultimately absorbed by the Torch of Phantasm. After activating the wishing well, the plant monster appeared to stop them. Julian holds it back, giving the Detective the chance to jump into the well. Returning back to reality, the Detective made her way to the forest. She eventually found the Match Girl, whose name is revealed to be Giselle, sitting in a chair in the witch's hut. Enraged that the Detective has trespassed into her grandmother's house, Giselle summoned a stronger plant monster to deal with the Detective. Needing to get rid of the monster, the Detective collected a few items and escaped through the waterway that leads back to the town. Appearing to the plant monster from behind, just as she was about to shoot it, the spirit of the Forest Witch appeared, enchanting the arrow as it was being fired. The plant monster disappeared as the Forest Witch advised the Detective to search for a copy of the magic glass wand. She also pleaded to help her tell the truth to Giselle. After retrieving the wand, the Detective returns to the Garden by having the carriage take her there. Meeting with Giselle again, the Detective chase her down until they reached the top of the castle's domain. She successfully defeated the Match Girl, but Julian revealed his true intentions, taking the Torch of Phantasm with him to the Distorted Garden. Joining up with Giselle to stop Julian, they headed to the Distorted Garden and defeated the prince with the combination of her fire-power and the magic glass wand. The Flame of Illusion was destroyed and without it, the Garden will perish, bringing death to the inhabitants trapped in it. Julian died, being sucked up in a vortex. With the last ounce of magic left, Giselle opened a portal for the Detective, willing to die with her Garden. Before she could step in, the Forest Witch embraced her granddaughter before the Detective went through the portal. Parables The Little Match Girl On a cold snowy night, a poor young girl named Giselle was trying to sell matches on the street by herself. She was driven out of her home by her drunken father because they were broke and needed the money. The girl took shelter in a nook and sat down. She lit some matches, but they didn't offer enough warmth. She looked up to the sky and saw some shooting stars. Then she remembered that they can make wishes come true. She suddenly realized she couldn't think of a wish, for she felt that no one loved her. Her father beat her when he got drunk, and she could scarcely remember her mother. She had a faint memory of her dead grandma, a white-haired woman who held her gently when she was a baby. "I am coming to you, Grandma," the girl sighed, as she closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes again, she was in a warm cabin. A lady with white hair was holding her gently, keeping her warm. The lady found her and brought her to her home. After hearing her story, the lady told the girl she could stay with her, if she wanted to. In time, the little girl learned that the lady was a witch. From then on, the girl lived with the witch, her new grandma, happily ever after. The Star Coins A poor little girl was working a spindle for a pittance on a cold winter's night. She suddenly pricked her finger on the spindle. She tried to wash the blood away with water from an old well, but she dropped the spindle and it fell into the well. She leaped into the well after it. When the girl woke up, she found herself lying on a featherbed in a warm cabin. A lady with white hair told the girl that she had accidentally triggered a magical portal within the old well. Not wanting to see the girl lost in enchantment, the lady saved the girl and brought her to her home. Although the girl didn't understand what the lady said, she knew that she had experienced something miraculous. She knew she'd lost her spindle forever, but at least she was safe. To thank the lady, the girl asked to do housework for her, but the lady declined. She got up and shook the featherbed to fluff it up. As the girl was young and inexperienced, the feathers flew around like snowflakes. The girl felt ashamed. The lady, still touched by the little girl's efforts, asked the girl to close her eyes for a moment. When a girl opened her eyes again, she found herself beside the old well under the cold night sky. Suddenly stars falling from the sky transformed into gold coins! Furthermore, a spindle filled with beautiful yarn appeared in the girl's hand. The girl knew that she had been blessed with the good fortune to meet a good witch. As the girl hadn't asked the lady's name, people who heard the story referred to her as the White Lady or Frau Holle. The Ominous Beauty Once upon a time, a beautiful prince was born in a kingdom beside the water. Everybody in the kingdom, blessing the prince's birth. Only a wandering old lady warned of the coming misfortune, which could only be avoided if the prince didn't look at himself in the mirror. Of course, no one listened to the prophet of doom. The old lady was ousted from the kingdom and soon forgotten. The prince grew up to be a good-looking man, and soon a charismatic king ascended the throne. Meanwhile, he became more and more fond of himself as he gazed upon his reflection in the mirror. He loved no one more than himself, for he believed that there was no creature as beautiful in the entire kingdom or even the world. Shortly thereafter the king became unkind, cruel and selfish. He taxed his people to fill his castle with the finest things money could buy, especially elegant clothing and gorgeous ornaments. Life was hard for people under the king's rule. People no longer loved the king. They even began to curse his name. As more time passed, the king became mentally unstable, locking himself away in his castle. Perhaps the curse was effective. People said the king had gone crazy, for his beauty faded with age. The king ruined himself and finally his kingdom. The doomed prophecy spoken by the old lady came to fruition. The Forest Witch Long ago, a powerful enchantress suffered inconsolable grief, for she lost her beloved. The feeling was too much for her heart to bear. In order to protect herself from such a traumatizing experience, the enchantress unintentionally broke her soul. Her soul was split into both good and evil sides. When the enchantress chose the evil side as her dominant personality, the good side was forsaken, and it separated from her soul transforming into an entirely different entity. The good side became a phantom-like existence, though it still carried the enchantress's knowledge and memories, but was fading with age. After drifting for several decades, with the blessing of the silver moon's shine, the phantom finally settled on a physical form. A new woman with a pure soul was formed miraculously under the moonlight. Due to her own experience, she knew that grief devoured people's heart and brought nothing but pain and suffering. She traveled around in a portable cabin, intending to help others with her sorcery to avoid people's sorrow. Sometimes she played a maternal role and often took care of the local forest wildlife as well. She made people cures using herbs prepared with a mortar and pestle. Though she gave no name, her deeds won her many different titles. Knowing that she was only a fragmented soul and that she would disappear someday, she still lived a meaningful life. She always remembered the enchantress who gave birth to her and hoped that what she did would somehow make up for the evil that had been done. The Second Prince's Revenge Once there were three orphan boys who were picked up by an old crone and passed down to a king, for each of them was imbued with a special talent. The king appointed them princes. The three princes followed their father, the king, with blind loyalty. One day, their regular lives were interrupted by a treasure hunter and a detective. It resulted in the king dying, and the destruction of his kingdom soon followed. The princes survived, but they had lost everything: their kingdom, their family, and their purpose for existence. The three princes wandered around to look for a way to bring back their deceased father. They met a girl who claimed to grant wishes. Thought the second prince noticed that the girl's power was only an illusion, he saw her potential. Suddenly, a plan flashed in his mind. He lied, saying they were knights, coming to provide aid to the girl. The elder prince was filled with strength and as vigorous as the Bright Morning. The second prince was passionate as the Radiant Sun. The youngest prince was as intelligent and steady as the Dark Night. And so these were the names that they were known by. They claimed a destroyer, a detective was coming. They said it would be better for the girl to grant more people's wishes so she should gain even more power. Finally, the second prince succeeded in approaching the girl, for he was the only one willing to make a sacrifice and imprison himself within the girl's illusory world. The oldest and the youngest princes continued on their journey to revive their father. Only the second prince stayed behind. He was only too happy to realize that besides raising his father from the dead, there were still many other things he could do, like exacting his revenge upon those who ruined his life. Connections * Prince Julian makes a reappearance. The last time the Detective saw him was in Jack and the Sky Kingdom. * When the Detective activated the Sundial in the Courtyard the water around turns purple making a reference to The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide. * An illusion of King Eurig and Prince James were seen. The last we saw them was in Jack and the Sky Kingdom and The Exiled Prince. * The Magic Glass Wand makes another reappearance. The last time the Detective used the wand was in Requiem for the Forgotten Shadow. The latest time it was used was in The Final Cinderella. * The False Mirror (powered by an illusion gem) makes a reappearance. This one seems like a copy since the original was destroyed in Rise of the Snow Queen. * When the Detective used the Magic Glass Wand and traveled to the Garden by getting sucked into the glassy lake with the magic carriage, it parallels with the time when she did the same thing with Pinocchio in The Final Cinderella. * In the Basement of the Forest Witch's Hut, where Giselle once lived, there were storybooks: Sleeping Beauty, hinting back to Curse of Briar Rose, the Frog Prince, The Exiled Prince, Jack and the Beanstalk, Jack and the Sky Kingdom and the mysterious Princess and her cygnet, Portrait of the Stained Princess. * In the Waterway are pictures of: Little Red Riding Hood, hinting back to The Red Riding Hood Sisters, The Puss in Boots, which we had seen also in The Boy Who Cried Wolf (Bonus Game) and hopefully it will be a future game, and again the Princess with Cygnet but this time a cursed object, Portrait of the Stained Princess. Personnel Eipix Entertainment Production Group Lead Producer/Lead Game Designer: Vanja Babic Game and Narrative Designers: Strahinja Vukovic, Nemanja Jovanov Lead 2D Artist: Janos Tokic Lead Level Designer: Aleksandra Stolic Character Artists: Mladen Mutavdzic, Aleksandar Acanski, Katarina Gigic, Nebojsa Slankamenac Cinematic Animators: Ibrahim Abdo, Aleksandar Markovic, Jelena Bekvalac, Luka Smilijanic, Zoran Tekic Cinematic 2D Artists: Kristina Oparusic, Dusan Bozic, Isidora Kovic, Sandra Janjatovic, Zoran Milenkovic Lead Programmer/Lead Technology Programmer: Zeljko Saric, Igor Kukobat Programmers/Technology Programmer: David Wahbi, Milos Petkovic, Branko Ivakovic Composer: Milan Kovarbasic Sound Designers: Kristina Markovic, Srboljub Mladenvoic Quality Assurance: Sanja Djuricic, Ales Fizesan, Bojan Rakic, Danilo Kovac, Igor Andrejevic Additional Production: Marko Banjac, Nikola Beronja Eipix Entertainment Management Chief Executive Officer: '''Mirko Topalski '''Chief Financial Officer: Dragan Dackovic Chief Operating Officer: Zoran Milanko Head of Production: Bojan Milanko Production Associate: Nebojsa Jankovic Head of 2D: Danilo Gnip Head of Cinematic: Gregor Hodinj Head of Music and Audio: Aleksandar Randjelovic Executive Associate: Sonja Stegnjaic Administration: Goran Alasov, Sara Karadzic, Slobodan Trifkovic Finance: Tatjana Vukmirovic, Vesna Eleonora Sarovic Operations: Aleksandar Kesanski, Ljubomir Gardinovacki, Nenad Kalc, Rastko Dragin, Vladimir Marceta Education Manager: Ivan Francuski Outsource Team: Maria Sitnikova, Oleksandr Osmolovskyi, Olga Osmolovskaya, Anzhelika Statieva, Yelena Yemelyanova, Sergey Sitnikov, Oleg Vykhristyuk, Andrew Yurchenko, Aleksandr Marienko, Bohdan Runets, Marina Sokolova, Nick Storozhenko, Olga Vasilevskaya Voice-over Managers: Nebojsa Jankovic, Tamara Zarkovic Big Fish Games Team Game Producer: John Mentzer Senior Game Producer: Lauren Horsley Production Manager: Christine Zeigler Direction of Game Production: Meeric Shank Narrative Design Manager: Faye Hoerauf Narrative Designers: Corinne Hutchinson, Joanie Rich Beta Writer/Editor: Nathaniel Apgar Senior Strategy Guide Editor: Margie Bissainthe Strategy Guide Creator: Anita Cule QA Senior Director: Curtis Reynolds QA Manager: Mike Harmon QA Associate Manager: Nathaniel Umipeg Project Leads: Joel Flamme, Jason Rich QA Testers: Joel Flamme, Josh Bugenig, Lauren Sallen-Paris, Max Nafziger, Brandon Christian, Kyle Clifton, Jason Rich Lab Associate Manager: Peter Corwin Lab Tech: Will Herschelman External Team: Chandler Eaton, Daryl Patterson, Jason Martins, Julia Blake, Keith Abbey, Reed Addison Voice Actors Match Girl: Tara Sands Landowner: '''Eric Newsome '''Prince Julian: '''Jacob Barrens '''Tape Recorder: '''Lauren Synger '''Frog Prince: '''Jonathan Cooke '''Magic Mirror: '''Stephen Fitts '''King Oberon: David Naughton King Euring: Erik Braa Forest Witch: Lani Minella Special Thanks We wish to thank you, the player, for accompanying us on yet another adventure. You have bravely navigated the unsteady waters, climbed the steepest of peaks, laughed at the face of danger and lived to tell the tale of your conquest. We have reached the end of this adventure, but there are many more lying ahead. Until the fickle finger of fate brings our paths together yet again, we salute you! Trivia *There are a few errors in the game that have been discovered (If there's any more glitches please list them here): ** If you attempt to skip the Phoenix minigame where the Match Girl has dialogue, the game will freeze and you won't be able to move. ** Another one is the brush revealed in the garden world. You can't click on it right away but you have to do a couple of steps before you can even get the hand icon on the brush. ** Another glitch is that if you put the drawer ornament on the drawer in the witch’s cabin before using the book to obtain the baking powder, you will not be able to get the animal fat. * The choice of Funen for the game's location may be deliberate as it is the birthplace of Hans Christian Andersen. Media Screenshots= Loading Screen.png|Loading Screen Main Menu.png|Main Menu MG intro.png|Intro About to make the wish.png|"I wish to become the wealthiest man in the world." Landowner.png|Will it come true? Indulge in Greed.png|A shower of riches Stars Hollow citizens.jpg|The mansion on fire! Stars Hollow cliff view.jpg|"Welcome to my Garden ..." Match Girl Briefing.jpg|The Fairytale Detective Giselle meets Detective.jpg|Meeting the Match Girl Landowner in mirror.jpg|We see the Landowner in the manor mirror Egeskov Town Remnants.jpg|The abandoned kingdom of Egeskov Julian trapped in mirror.jpg|A face from our past warns us to stay away Egeskov Courtyard.jpg|An intriguing sundial MGLP Detective gets caught.jpg|Surprise! Garden Castle Hallway.jpg|We arrive in the Garden and encounter a replica of the False Mirror King Eurig illusion.jpg|Another face from our past Frog Prince illusion.jpg|An old friend ... Ugly Frog.jpg|That's one ugly frog! Prince Julian reintroduces himself.jpg|We reinquire ourself with Prince Julian ... but can we trust him? Landowner in the Vault.jpg|The Landowner enjoying his illusion of treasures Landowner fight.png|A big tussle Julian fights plant monster statue.jpg|Julian showing off his new magic Forest Path.png|A lonely cabin in the forest MGLP Forest Witch.jpg|A ghostly ally DP other glimpses.png|Getting ready to aim Scary_Plant_Monster.jpg|Attack of the Scary Plant Monster Forest Witch speaks to Detective.jpg|We are formally introduced to the Forest Witch Replica Glass Wand.jpg|We repair the Forest Witch's Magic Glass Wand DP15 horse.png|Traveling back to the Garden using a Pumpkin Carriage Giselle summoning a phoenix.jpg|Battling against Giselle Julian reveals his true plan.jpg|Julian reveals his true plan - to reshape the world into his liking with the Torch of Phantasm Giselle jumps in to help the Detective.jpg|Confronting Julian in Distorted Garden Julian_defeated.jpg|"Giselle! What have you done?" Giselle dying.png|"Without the Flame of Illusion, we shall die with the Garden!" Dp 15 Julian's death.png|Farewell sweet Prince Giselle opening a portal.png|"Go now, Detective. Thank you. I hope you can forgive me." Giselle's memory.jpg|A sad memory Giselle_and_Forest_Witch_reunited.jpg|"Grandma? There you are ..." |-|Concept Art= MG_Waterway_concept_art.jpg|Waterway Concept Art MG_Hatchet_concept_art.jpg|Hatchet Concept Art MG_Items_concept_art.jpg|Items Concept Art MG_Lane_concept_art.jpg|Lane Concept Art MG_Distorted_Garden_concept_art.jpg|Distorted Garden Concept Art MG_Crypt_concept_art.jpg|Crypt Concept Art |-|Wallpaper= DP15_wallpaper01_1920x1080.jpg|Forest Witch wallpaper DP15_wallpaper03_1920x1080.jpg|Giselle/Match Girl wallpaper #1 DP15_wallpaper04_1920x1080.jpg|Giselle/Match Girl wallpaper #2 DP15_wallpaper05_1920x1080.jpg|Prince Julian wallpaper DP15_wallpaper06_1920x1080.jpg|Landowner wallpaper DP15_wallpaper07_1920x1080.jpg|False Mirror wallpaper DP15_wallpaper08_1920x1080.jpg|Mural wallpaper |-|HOP Scenes= MatchGirl_HOP1.jpg|HOP 1 (Village) MatchGirl_HOP2.jpg|HOP 2 (Countryside) MatchGirl_HOP3.jpg|HOP 3 (Town Remnants) MatchGirl_HOP4.jpg|HOP 4 (Rose Terrace) MatchGirl_HOP5.jpg|HOP 5 (Rose Terrace) MatchGirl_HOP6.jpg|HOP 6 (Vault) MatchGirl_HOP7.jpg|HOP 7 (Town Remnants) MatchGirl_HOP8.jpg|HOP 8 (Loft) MatchGirl_HOP9.jpg|HOP 9 (Arcane Lab) MatchGirl_HOP10.jpg|HOP 10 (Staircase) |-|Promos= TMGLP_Standard_Edition_icon.jpg|Standard Edition Icon TMGLP_Collector's_Edition_icon.jpg|Collector's Edition Icon MGLP_Steam_banner.jpg|Steam banner |-|Other Images= Beta Credits.png|The Match Girl's Lost Paradise beta screen DP15 credits.png|The Match Girl's Lost Paradise credit screen The Little Match Girl Parable Image.jpg|"The Little Match Girl" Parable image The Star Coins Parable Image.jpg|"The Star Coins" Parable image The Ominous Beauty Parable Image.jpg|"The Ominous Beauty" Parable image The Forest Witch Parable Image.jpg|"The Forest Witch" Parable image The Second Prince's Revenge Parable Image.jpg|"The Second Prince's Revenge" Parable image |-|Videos= Category:A to Z Category:Games Category:The Match Girl's Lost Paradise